Review of Asset: Episode 6

May 2, 2014

This episode sets off an entirely new story. Now we can get to the down and dirty, we’re done with setting up the plot and finally move the story along. Eris is ‘fully invested’ just like Julia wanted. He moves in with Lazerev and Nadja changing the state of play. Where Eric stands on the social ladder with Lazerev is the same with Julia and Tom: on the bottom. Lazerev doesn’t suspect Eric for anything in relation to his lucrative business, only as a threat to his wife. There are some great scenes between Lazerev and Eric, and makes for some small comedic relief. Eric as a character always takes to time to remind us that he’s an idiot at this spy game.

Now that the stakes have changed Eric makes more of a conscious effort to be the spy that he is not. Cue the cheesy lines. But despite the obvious fact Eric is still in way over his head, at least he’s got some newfound confidence. This primarily relates to his closeness with Nadja. It’s interesting how the audience probably doesn’t have a problem with Nadja being married with Eric playing the home wrecker. Of course Anya, the strong female lead counterpart to Julia, sees this possible scenario. This leads our bad guy entourage to the stylish and classy nightclub scene, and an introduction to a new female character.
Enter
Katyenka, a friend to Anya and a model with a slight Russian accent. The
actress who plays Katyenka is actually Hannah Spear, better known for another
web series Versus Valerie. Honestly I didn’t even recognize her at
first. All dolled up Katyenka seems vastly different from nerdy Valerie Lapomme.

Katyenka quickly establishes herself as a strong female character, fitting in with the rest of our cast. She’s a bit of a badass, and plays off of Eric really well. Hopefully we’ll see more of her in the upcoming episodes. Hard to tell with the sudden cliffhanger. But I want to go back to Julia for a minute here. Although she’s clearly incredibly smart, she’s little more like Eric in that she feels awkward in the field. She doesn’t seem as comfortable in her surroundings, charging around with a gun, as say the totally badass Tom. Hopefully Julia will find her inner badass, just like Eric (also hopefully) should, as the story goes on.

This episode was short and sweet, as in general the episodes are quicker and smoother. Episode 6 in particular has great camera work that enhances the story. The series here on out will no doubt move quickly in terms of character and spy action.